Agios Georgios Arperas Chapel

The chapel of Agios Georgios Arperas is situated about 2km from Larnaka in the village of Tersefanou, where the medieval village of Arpera once stood.

The chapel was built by the Dragoman Christofakis Konstantinou in 1745 and has a fresco depicting himself and his family as founders, as well as many icons signed by the painter Ioannikios. The family painting is believed to show the Dragoman offering the church to Saint George as thanks for the successful completion of the difficult project of Larnaka’s aqueduct ‘Kamares’, for which he was contractor.

The office of Dragoman was introduced in Cyprus at the start of Ottoman rule and was abolished in 1821 with the Greek War of Independence. Dragomans acted as liaisons between the Pasha (high ranking military officials) and the occupied population and were the most important political figures after the Pasha.